AT this time of year, most clubs in the country, whatever their grade, are in serious training for their upcoming county championships. But any of those worth their salt are also thinking of All-Ireland finals.
For the senior clubs, today, St Patrick’s Day in Croke Park, is the ultimate ambition.
To get there once is a magnificent achievement, to get there twice within four years — as Ballyhale Shamrocks are doing — is brilliant. What then do you say about Portumna, going for the three-in-a-row, and a fourth title in five years?
Already they have to be considered one of the greatest club teams of all time and if they win, they are the best, without question.
No team, in either hurling or football, has ever done the three-in-a-row before, so that would be a bit of GAA history for Portumna, a nice target.
However, Ballyhale Shamrocks are also going for their own bit of history, because if they win, they then go top of the roll of honour in hurling, looking down on all the rest (a view familiar to Kilkenny hurling supporters anyway).
It has been a fantastic competition for hurling families, this All-Ireland club championship. I know the junior and intermediate have joined the party in recent years, and that’s been fantastic to see, but it started with the senior.
Think back over the years, the likes of the Connollys from Castlegar, the Cooneys from Sarsfields in Galway, the Whelehans of Birr, the O’Connors of Newtownshandrum, and probably the greatest family of all, the Fennellys of Ballyhale.
That’s what this competition has done at a local level, shown the importance of family in the GAA.
This afternoon is no different. When Portumna won their first All-Ireland title, in 2006, they had I think five brothers on the panel (four starting, one sub), led by the great Ollie at corner-back and the potentially even greater Joe at the other end of the field.
Today, Ollie and Joe are still there, as is Ivan in the goals, while David is a sub.
Then you have the Hayes boys, brothers and cousins along with the Smiths. On the other side you have the three Reid brothers, TJ, Eoin and Paddy (and youngster, Richie, ready in the background), the Shefflins, Henry and Paul, and a new generation of Fennellys. That, for me, defines club, and it also defines the GAA.
THE All-Ireland final at inter-county level is a national occasion, one of the great days in Irish sport, but this too, even if it doesn’t generate the same publicity or interest, is special. When your own team is in there, it makes it even more special.
It’s local, it’s community, and even if we’re not there ourselves, it’s something we can all identify with (and good luck here to Kilmurry-Ibrickane, in the football final).
And then we come to the game itself, and with all due respect to every other hurling club in the country, from the time the chips started to fall at the end of the various county championships last year I think this is the game every hurling follower wanted to see.
Making predictions is a dangerous business, and often when you expect the most, that’s when you get the least, but I’m absolutely certain that this is going to be one of the great All-Ireland club hurling finals. And wouldn’t that be great for hurling, especially after the fine inter-county final we had last September?
Look at the lead-in, how these two clubs have already beaten all before them, then look at the recent history, the beating dished out by Portumna to Ballyhale last year — be certain that’s not going to happen again.
I have to say too, that in trying to predict this one, I’m really struggling — it’s as difficult a game to call as any I’ve ever done.
We know about all the stars on each side, Henry with Ballyhale, Joe with Portumna, the sharp-shooting Reids for Ballyhale, balanced by the Hayes of Portumna. You have Fennellys and Cha, you have the Smiths and Eoin Lynch, and so on, and so on.
These guys are all crucial to a team, but what could happen here, however, what often happens, is that with all those big guns canceling each other out, it could be an unlikely hero who emerges. Who will it be, with what club? That’s the question.
I really don’t know; I’m not a fence-sitter, however, so — very tentatively — I think it could be Ballyhale wetting the shamrock in celebration in Kilkenny tonight!
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Wednesday, March 17, 2010
